Girls und Warships
by ViktorChild
Summary: Have you ever wondered who operates the Oarai school ship carrier? In the OVA Ep4, Miho and gang toured their school carrier and found out that it is operated by working scholars of the Naval Studies Department. Lovely setting for a story right? Now have you ever heard or played World of Warships? Instead of tanks, this story is all about girls sailing warships!
1. Chapter 1: Summons

**Real Synopsis**

A year has passed since Oarai's victory on the National Senshado tournament. The Oarai school carrier has been saved from being closed down and is now enjoying a surge of investments from different sponsors. However, the school's board of directors has decided that participation in Senshado is not enough. The students must earn victories from other tournaments as well. With the added increase of the school's budget, the Supreme Student Council has decided that the time has now come for the Naval Studies Department to finally make its entry to the National Naval War Games tournament.

 _Main Characters are original but some characters of the show will also play major roles in the story._

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **Summons**_

THIRD YEAR NAVAL STUDENT Mitsuki Watari stepped out from the front passenger side of the car and was immediately greeted by the early dawn's cool wet air. She felt the chill assaulting her pale cheeks but suppressed the urge to shiver. A light fog had also developed and, on this spring morning, she could feel the dew condensing on her black naval commissar's uniform, getting her shirt and pants all wet and damp. Today was a Friday, she should have just worn a Class B uniform but when summons came at this godforsaken hour, there was no time to pick up the correct clothes and so she grabbed the first one that she could find. She frowned, this was her last clean set of her commissar uniforms before she had to do laundry and the prospect of having to spend the weekend evening washing them didn't entice her one bit.

She tugged at her sleeves, trying to straighten up the wrinkles, before moving to open the back door of the car.

A twin-tailed blond girl, one head shorter than her, emerged from the back seat of the car. Unlike her, she wore a white naval officer's uniform but with a number of insignias in her collar and shoulder boards that indicated she was of higher rank. The triple stripes and triple chrysanthemum flowers in her collar indicated that she was a _Kaigun-daisa_ or Naval Captain and the anchor with a book medal pinned to her chest indicated she was no ordinary Captain.

Sanae Shimizu, day-shift Captain of the massive Oarai School Carrier, inhaled deeply the cool morning air before power walking her way toward the entrance of the General School Administration Building which houses the office of the Supreme Student Council President.

"Come Watari," growled her superior. "The Supremo should have a damned good reason for summoning us on this damned hour."

Mitsuki said nothing as she watched her twin-tailed Superior disappear into the entrance of the Admin building.

Tiny droplets of rain started to fall on her, further drenching her clothes and long charcoal black hair. She raised her head to look at the sky and saw dark clouds about to release their contents as cold spring rain. A downpour was about to begin, an ominous sign.

"Stop standing there Watari, get inside now!"

Mitsuki sighed and then proceeded to walk toward the door.

The corridor leading toward the office of the Student Council President was unlit and only the weak hue of early morning light, distorted by stained glass windows, provided any sort of illumination. In the silence of the empty corridor, their footsteps echoed off around the walls that loudly announced their presence but nobody came to greet them. They were all alone, as expected of the time.

Mitsuki took out her phone and checked out the time. It was 5:25 AM. Too early… The time was too early for anything which could only mean that this was urgent and certainly not a friendly chat with teas and cupcakes. If her miserable luck was of any indication, she already knew on what to expect.

Though not informed about the real reason for the meeting, it was obviously clear to her that it would have to be something about the recent string of accidents happening in the Naval Studies department during the start of the school year and the failure of the Commissars aka, Morals Committee, to take any measures to prevent it. Though initial investigations seemed to point out to human error or structural fatigue, she couldn't actually rule out sabotage. Indeed, it was quite disconcerting that a few of the evidences, could also suggest an attempt to foil the Naval Studies' long awaited entry to this annual Naval War Games. Of course, pursuing such a line of thought meant that she would be crossing over to conspiracy theory territory and she did not want to do that with the current amount of evidence.

Not yet at least, but soon.

"They are looking down on us," mumbled Sanae.

It took several seconds for Mitsuki to realize that her twin-tailed superior was actually talking to her. "Uh, yes captain?"

"The General Studies department," Sanae continued. "They take us for granted even as we toil and work our asses off to keep this damned ship afloat. Do they think we are here for their beck and call? Don't they know we have other better things to do like sleep?"

Aside from the students of the Naval Studies, there exist in the whole School Carrier other departments such as engineering, sports, fisheries and a lot of others. The largest of these departments was the General Studies which had the lion's share of students enrolled. The student-sailors of the Naval Studies amiably call them landlubbers as they live above deck and do not need to work eight hours a day to pay for their tuition.

"I'm sure the landlubbers don't really think of that about us."

"Is it now?" Sanae abruptly stop walking and turn to look at the black-haired commissar straight in the eye. "This is why you suck at being the head of the naval commissariat Watari. You are a keen observer and yet are too afraid to make a stand for your convictions."

Mitsuki furrowed her brows at the blunt criticism. She knew what her captain was talking about. She had once reported her findings regarding the accidents to her with a footnote that conveyed her suspicions. However, when she was told to explain further her reservations, she fumbled and kept on correcting herself until her twin-tailed superior reprimanded her for being too indecisive with the results.

She wanted to try again and explain herself but decided now was not the time. "But… But why would they look down on us?"

The twin-tailed captain snorted. "Why won't they? Did the passengers of the Titanic paid any attention to the crew before they struck an iceberg? To them high school life is one long sea cruise and why would they pay us any attention? We are just robots working below decks while they all enjoy the sunshine above."

"Perhaps that might be the reason as to why you didn't get to be the Student Council President? You have trust is-?" Mitsuki placed a hand on her mouth as she realized she just blurted out something upsetting for her captain. However, to her surprise, Sanae just let out a genuine chuckle at the mention of her loss.

"That," Sanae conceded. "And the fact that the previous president was a ruthless tyrant who endorsed another landlubber to succeed her instead of someone from the Naval Studies department."

"She was elected to the post captain."

Sanae raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well uh," Mitsuki shrugged. "She did win the popular vote, after all, she's a legend."

The twin-tailed captain continued to stare at her subordinate but Mitsuki held her ground. "Watari, popularity is a poor indicator of being a leader."

"Yes but…" Mitsuki trailed off and didn't continue her response as she broke eye contact, lowered her head, and saw her Captain's hands were instinctively clenched into tight fists.

The election was horribly one-sided. The students of the General studies department vote unanimously for the current Student Council President and even in the Naval Studies she got the majority vote of the freshmen. It was only with the junior and senior students of the Naval Studies did Sanae got any solid support.

Mitsuki thought her twin-tailed superior would launch a tirade of excuses at her but instead she just let out a heavy sigh before proceeding to continue her walk. "What can I say? The election was rigged from the start. The previous dictator endorsed a very popular candidate. Who can win against her?"

They continued their walk in silence, climbed three flights of stairs, before reaching a pair of wooden doors made of mahogany and decorated with ornate carvings of birds. Above the doors was a phrase in what appears to be in Latin saying, _Scholasticus Concilio Praesidim Officio,_ or, as she was informed, translated to _Office of the Student Council President_. She didn't really understand why it was written in Latin but she could appreciate as to how the arcane language added to the grandeur to the office of Student Council President.

Mitsuki stole a glance to her twin-tailed captain and saw her looking at the sign with contempt. It was expected she supposed. She then stepped in front of her superior to stand directly at the doors before raising a hand to knock.

Knuckles met wood and she could hear her knocks reverberating all across the empty hallways. A few seconds passed, there was no answer. She knocked again and waited for another couple of seconds. Still no answer.

Mitsuki frowned. She moved her gaze down to the bottom of the doors and saw light coming out from the opposite side.

The room was occupied.

"Move aside Watari," Her twin-tailed captain stepped beside her and proceeded to pound the doors with her clenched fists. "Hey your majesty! Open up! The hell is wrong with you calling us so early in the morning?"

It took another several seconds of silence before they got a reply from the intercom.

"Sorry! S-so sorry…" Both turned their attention to a box beside the doors which was making crackling noises and they could hear a voice of a girl distorted by static. "S-Sorry for keeping you waiting… I'll uh open the locks now."

A beep and the intercom went silent. Another beep and they heard a clicking sound from behind the doors.

Mitsuki turn to look at her superior who gave her a nod indicating her to proceed. She nodded back and then placed her hands on the doorknobs, turning them both at the same time, she then gave them a push and the doors swung open.

Unlike the dark halls that they just passed through, the office of the Student Council President was well lit and Mitsuki could see all the trappings of excess in this spacious room. Antiques littered the room, a mini-library full of books stood at one corner, paintings of past presidents hang atop the walls, and a sitting area consisting of a sofa and two couches that were made of rich leather. The floor was paved with polished marble, like the one she once saw inside a fancy hotel in Tokyo, which made her feel uncomfortable walking on it with wet shoes. Mitsuki couldn't help but wonder as to where the past councils got the budget for all these stuff and yet still spout out to the public the usual excuse that the school was being tight with money. It looked criminal but it was not her job to investigate on that.

Her eyes then wandered from portrait to portrait of past presidents and saw the faces of ambitious young women donning bright smiles and innocent expressions despite the fact that they once held an incredible amount of power. Budding politicians groomed at such a young age.

Both Mitsuki and Sanae made their way toward the other end of the room where they stood in front of a girl with short brown hair seated behind an intricately carved wooden desk. The student council president sat in her chair, busy filling up documents, and oblivious that her two guests were already in front of her. Mitsuki immediately noticed her tired and haggard expression and realized that she may had been awake the whole night. Compared to the smiling portraits of her predecessors, her face did not actually convey confidence or strength but it looked like that of a novice politician who stared at the abyss of political bureaucracy and came out all beaten and spent. Her current state was a far-cry from her other leadership role that made her an overnight celebrity and a legend of the school.

"Um," Mitsuki cleared her throat and adjusted her collar. "Miss President, we've ar-"

But before she could finish up her sentence, her twin-tailed captain slammed both of her hands on the desk startling the president off of her chair.

"You've got a lot of nerves calling us here at this godforsaken hour," Sanae growled as she leaned over the desk and inched her face toward the president. "Well we're here now at your beck and call... Student Council President Nishizumi Miho"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Hello everyone! When I saw Girls und Panzers years ago, I was immediately captivated by the settings. Girls riding tanks? What an absurdity! But I fell in love with the settings and the characters. For me, GuP was the best anime that was released in Fall 2012.

Anyways, though the story focused more on tanks, there was one part of the settings that intrigued me and that was the HUUUGE aircraft carrier these high school girls lived. How does that work and who the hell operates this big-ass ship? Luckily, GuP showed us the answer by airing OVA Episode 4 in which we see Miho and co. went all over the ship explaining to us viewers how things work in their crazy universe.

And that was also the time when I became truly fascinated by the Naval Studies department. Who were these student-sailors? What's their story? Do they have a tournament just like Senshado? ( ***cough*** World of Warships ***cough*** )

Let's see and find out. XD

By the way, Chapter 1 initially was comprised of three scenes but I decided to release them per scene (for now) just so I can really start at writing and finally stop procrastinating.

Until next time!

* * *

 **Version History:**

c1v1.0

c1v1.1 (2016/07/31) - made a minor update in order to be in sync with new developments in chapter 3


	2. Chapter 2: Delinquent on the Roof

Current Version: c2v1.0

* * *

 _ **Delinquent on the Roof**_

SHIZUKA YAMASHITA OPENED HER eyes and saw the sky was the color of soot and ash. A flash, a booming roar of thunder, then rain started to hit her on the face. For a few seconds, she didn't move. She continued to lie down on the rooftop floor of the General Studies Administration building, where she decided to sleep the whole night, staring blankly toward the gloomy heavens and not even bothering to take shelter from the rain.

She closed back her eyes and just laid back to enjoy the soothing caress of the rain but the rational part of herself took hold of her thoughts, reminding her that it was unhealthy and just plain stupid to deliberately get herself wet for no good reason. She moaned and countered by saying she didn't care—and it was barely even morning—but her rational side added that she was acting like a moron and morons should just do the whole world a favor and jump off from the roof.

Finally, she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a silent snarl. "Ok fine!"

Having lost her internal battle with her rational self, she summoned up all her willpower and then proceeded to stand up. Her body immediately protested with pain at the sudden change of posture and she groaned as to why it had to rain when she had such a good night sleep. Once again her rational part quickly noted to her that this was what she should expect for sleeping on the roof but she dismissed and ignored such thoughts.

Sometimes it was an uphill battle fighting off reason and logic.

Now standing, albeit still groggy from sleep, she raised her arms up into the air and then proceeded to stretch. Immediately, she felt pleasure coursing through her brain as her muscles began to relax which prompted her to let out a wide cavernous yawn.

She was now wide awake and quite drenched.

To the ordinary passerby that do not know her, she looked like a delinquent who decided one day to beat up some poor student-officer from the Naval Studies and then wore her uniform out of spite. Of course that never happened but she was still a major source of irritation for the Commissariat, aka the Morals Committee, for refusing to wear her uniform properly as what was 'expected' of a commissioned officer of the Naval Studies department.

She was hard not to miss. She belted her pants with a braided rope, wore sandals instead of plain black shoes and she had the nerve to allow her wild and long ponytail dye in red, a blatant violation of the hair code. What's more, she always wore her white naval uniform unbuttoned thus exposing her midriff and bandage covered chest. Her choice of fashion made her look like a delinquent tomboy though her exposed chest and navel does seemed to highlight the femininity of her slender body.

The rain had not yet turned into a raging downpour so she continued to loiter a bit more on the roof deck. Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of a car coming to a stop. She walked toward the railings and peeked down the road below.

Someone had just arrived in front of the entrance to the building. Three floors down, on the ground, she saw a car parked with someone exiting from the front passenger door. Though there was a light fog, she could still see that the passenger was a naval officer with long charcoal black hair and wearing a black uniform.

 _What the?_

Her eyes went wide and she could feel a chill ran down her spine. She immediately recoiled from the railings so as not to be seen.

 _What the hell is Mitsuki doing here?_

She inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm herself. Her mind raced to recall the events of yesterday's evening, scouring for any hint that could explain as to why her pursuer was here. She was definitely sure she managed to lose the annoying commissar when she tried to apprehend her. There was absolutely no way she was being tracked.

She recalled herself walking on top of the walls of central park, minding her own business, when her personal 'guidance councilor' approached her. It had always been like this ever since they entered high school, Mitsuki was that kind of person that was just obsessed with rules and would not skip a beat to remind everybody else of their importance.

As was always the case, Mitsuki saw her doing something out of the norm and immediately tried to apprehend her. Likewise, as was always the response, she would not have any of it and so she bolted away from her and a long chase through alleyways and deserted roads ensued. Her memories were kind of a blur after that but she did remember being finally cornered and forced to have a duel.

A smile crept into her face. Ah yes, the uptight idiot somehow managed to get the upper hand by tackling her down on the ground but then, as her pursuer started to spout her nonsense about following the rules, she took out a _wasabi_ paste she got from a sushi store out of her pocket and then rammed it on to the black-haired commissar's mouth.

Her smile widen into a full blown grin. Mitsuki's face was priceless. Yes it was awful to shove a whole _wasabi_ paste into her mouth and yes she would apologize to her later—perhaps buying her lunch as a peace offering—but the thought of at least shutting her up for a moment was deeply satisfying.

 _Uh yeah, she'll definitely kill me now._

But still… She scratched her head. How the hell did she ever managed to find out that she snuck into the General Studies' Admin building to sleep on the roof deck?

Her answer came from a pissed-off voice coming from the ground.

"Come Watari, the Supremo should have a damned good reason for summoning us on this damned hour!"

She furrowed her brows in confusion. She recognized that voice. So aside from her personal guidance councilor, Captain Shorty McShortpants was also here? Lovely. What a wonderful way to start off the day. No worries, she can take both of them in a fight. But then her mind began to put two and two together and she realized that they might not be here for her… They might be here for someone else.

 _Supremo? Did she mean the Student Council President?_

She placed a hand on her chin. Yes, that seemed to be the likely case but why meet her at such an early hour?

She raised her head toward the sky. Barely enough light from the morning sun penetrated the blanket of ashen clouds. A downpour was imminent and yet they still proceeded with the meeting.

And then it hit her.

"Stop standing Watari, get inside now!" Yelled Captain Shorty McShortpants. As always, the over-glorified half of the school carrier's dual-captaincy demonstrated her rather short temper.

She slowly peered out of the railings and saw both of her fellow officers had already went inside the building. She stood up, let out a heavy sigh, as she placed her hands on her hips.

Scheduling a meeting at such an early hour meant that it was not for the public to know and she could think of one issue that had recently plagued the Naval Studies department that was still kept under wraps.

"They've been called to give their reports on the accidents…" She mumbled thoughtfully to herself. "Only officers know about that."

Yes, it does kind of make sense. She instinctively touched the striped insignia with three chrysanthemums on her open collar. Though she might look and act like a delinquent, people seemed to forget that she was still a commissioned officer with the rank of _kaigun-daisa_ or captain and thus was still kept on the loop.

She knew about the accidents and she also knew that they were no accidents. How? Gut instincts. This was the reason as to why she had ordered a small part of her crew to stand watch and guard her ship every night in case of 'uninvited rats'. Now Mitsuki might not be at liberty to immediately proclaim the accidents as outright sabotage, as it was her job to thoroughly investigate the whole matter, but she was not bound to any organization and so she could act more liberally with her mouth. She trusted her gut instinct and what her gut was telling her was that all these 'accidents' were caused by 'rats' who, for some reason, didn't want them to take part on the Naval War Games.

Speaking of which… She fished out her phone from her pocket, scrolled down on her contacts list, and dialed in the number of her Chief Engineer who was currently guarding their ship berthed inside the school carrier's cavernous hangar-dock down below.

The call connected and the phone on the other side played the opening theme song to Space Odyssey 2001. She kind of like the tune but resisted the urge to hum. Thirty seconds passed and the call was dropped.

She frowned and made a clicking noise with her tongue. She pressed the call button again.

Click.

"Yow Kat, morni-"

"What the hell do you want captain?!" Before she could finish her greeting, a rather pissed off voice from other side interrupted. "Do you know what the fucking time is?!"

"Morning Kat, how's the engine?" She repeated, deliberately ignoring her subordinate's question. "She now seaworthy?"

"That's it?" She could hear Kat's exasperated voice. "Y-you called me just to know about the fucking engine? I've been up all night cranking the damned thing and you want to know if it's seaworthy?"

"Uh, yeah?" She grinned. "I'm the captain, it's my job to know."

"Yeah? Well fuck you cap," Kat's voice sounded more pissed off than before. "Why can't you just wait like two hours from now where I can give a proper report instead of calling at… Ah for fuck's sake it's five fucking thirty! I've barely got any sleep!"

Alright. So judging by how incredibly irate her chief engineer sounded, she reckoned that the diesel-powered engine of her ship might still need some tuning before it was fully optimized and operational. No worries, it could wait.

"Actually it's not the only reason as to why I called," She clarified. "Also want to know if you saw any rats during the night?"

"Rats?" There was a pause on the line, followed by inaudible mumbling. "Oh you mean… Uh no, everything's seems to be fine. You really sure someone's trying to stop us from entering the Naval War Games?"

"Oh I'm sure of it." And then she added. "In fact, I'm not the only one who thinks about that. Mitsuki also suspects that too but as usual, her ass is tied up with issuing 'official' statements so she can't really talk about it publicly."

"Well sucks to be her…" Her chief engineer concurred before letting out a groan. "And fuck cap, I was like about to get some Z's but you screwed me and now I'll never get back to the zone!"

"Yeah uh, sorry about that, I'll buy you lunch today cool?" She offered as she walked towards the other side of the building.

"Buy me beef curry and I'll forgive you."

"Sweet! So-" Her chief engineer hanged up without as much as saying goodbye. "Guess she was dead tired."

She reached the other side of the building and placed her hands on the railings. She leaned forward and felt a cool spring wind assaulting her face. For a few minutes, she didn't move or took shelter from the rain but just stood and enjoyed the overlooking view of sakura trees planted in long rows inside Central Park. The trees were still barren of their cherry blossoms but it won't be long now before they'd reveal to the whole school their beauty and splendour.

As expected of the time, she saw no one walking in the park and she also noticed that the streetlamps were still lit. In fact, as her gaze trailed the lines of street lamps inside the park and out to the streets, she could see all of them were still lit. What was the usual time these street lamps were turned off?

What's more, she noticed that the streets were-

Her eyes immediately shifted to a section of the fence that surrounded the admin building. Wait… Hold on… Something's not right. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to focus on what looked like movements in the bushes.

What she saw made her immediately crouch down behind the railings.

 _What the fuck?_

She slowly peeked over the railings to confirm if she wasn't hallucinating but the figures she saw behind the bushes didn't go away. There were three of them, all in various Special Forces camouflage uniforms, and carrying assault rifles.

 _Assault Rifles?_

Her heart skipped a beat. She blinked and tried to focus on the weapons they carried and saw they had red caps on the barrels. Her shoulders sagged and she began to relax. For a moment she thought it was the real deal.

One of them made a beeline toward the admin building, immediately ducking behind a bunch of cardboard boxes. The intruder then raised a hand to signal the others to follow.

She stepped away from the railings and out of sight. She placed a hand on her mouth and realized that she was grinning. She didn't know who they were or what were their objectives but she know for sure they were definitely trouble.

 _Spies? Robbers? Kidnappers? Rats?_

There was only one way to find out.

She cracked her knuckles as her smile widened from ear to ear. Yes, as long they were using airsoft rifles and not the real thing, then that meant their intruding asses were kickable. It had been a long time since she had a fight that didn't involve that huge pain in the ass Mitsuki. Her rogue spirit yearned for fights like the ones she had with low-lives back on dry land.

Then she saw a grappling hook arched through the air that landed with a thud a few meters from her. A second later, the hook was pulled down, scraping the floor, until it found purchase on the railings to hold. A few moments after, a second grappling hook appeared and then a third one.

 _Nice. They want to scale the roof._

She craned her neck left and right and heard a cracking sound. She then placed her hands in front of her in a fighting stance. "Alright, let's do this!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

So we are again introduced to another OC, a captain (ship is a secret for now) who looks and acts like a delinquent. I'm still trying to fish out the correct personality for Shizuka but she's definitely the natural foil for the uptight and law abiding Mitsuki. Red & Blue Oni anyone?

By the way, any World of Warships player out here? If so, here's a hint… Shizuka is a captain of a Japanese ship that is somewhere in between tier 5 and tier 10. Guess what will be her ship? XD

Next chapter we'll focus more on our lovely Student Council President and to the reason as to why she called the meeting.

Until next time everyone!


	3. Chapter 3: Student Council President

Current Version: c3v1.0

* * *

 _ **Student Council President**_

SANAE SHIMIZU SAID NOTHING but glowered at the brown-haired Student Council President. To Mitsuki's surprise, Miho Nishizumi actually cringed under her captain's glare. She looked like she wanted to melt on her chair, hoping to just disappear. Mitsuki had never seen this timid side of Oorai's Student Council President. In fact, she had always seen her as a natural born leader, always leading in the frontlines, and earning the respect of her peers. Granted she had not known her on a personal level, she had assumed that she would be like the rest of her predecessors, ruthless and power driven, considering her impressive record in Tankery.

She made a mental note to be more cordial and friendly with her in the future.

"And?" Sanae asked, her voice low and dripping with disdain. "Why are we here?"

Miho blinked. She managed to gather enough wit to steady herself in her chair to stammer. "Um, y-yes… About that…"

She gestured to her two guests to sit down. "But first p-please take a seat."

Mitsuki nodded and was about to sit on one of the guest chairs when her captain raised a hand. "No, we prefer to stand."

Mitsuki gave Sanae an annoyed look but said nothing. Though it might seem small and petty, she knew her captain's refusal was a calculated move to assert dominance in a conversation. For Sanae to remain standing meant that Miho Nishizumi would be forced to assume the submissive role as she would be looking up when she speaks.

Of course, such power play was only obvious if Sanae also had the height to go with her ego trip.

"As you wish." Miho half-smiled apologetically. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

As for the other VIP in the room, Mitsuki still found it hard to believe the current president's seeming lack of confidence. What's more, the bags under her eyes and the strewn documents in her desk indicated she pushed herself and had an all-nighter. Commendable, as a student council president indeed had plenty of work, but it also made her look incapable of delegating tasks to her subordinates. Couldn't she just assign some of her workload to her other student council members? If she couldn't, then how the hell did she ever managed to become a legendary hero who saved the school not once but twice?

Miho opened her eyes, Mitsuki immediately got her answer.

The black-haired commissar felt a chill ran down her spine. She saw it… The change was too subtle but she still saw it. Miho still looked the same, tired and haggard, but there was something in her eyes that told Mitsuki all was not what it seemed.

Miho's eyes were the eyes of a predator luring her prey.

"Nishizumi," Sanae began. "Why did you-"

"Captain," Miho locked eyes with Sanae, her voice low but firm. "Why was I not informed about the accidents in the Naval Studies?"

Mitsuki blinked. _Wait… What?_

She turned to look at her captain who, for a moment, was caught off guard but then immediately formed her lips into a defiant smirk.

Then it hit her.

"Y-You didn't tell the president?!" The commissar's eyes went wide as her jaws dropped. Her mind tried checking and double-checking what she just heard. With regards to the school organization hierarchy, the Student Council conducts a weekly meeting with all the respective school department heads. As such, as the overall head of the Naval Studies Department, it was her captain's job to pass on her accident report to the Student Council President.

Sanae didn't as much as turned to face the commissar, much less acknowledged her outburst. Instead, she placed her hands on the desk as she once again leaned toward the president. "And who ever told you that?"

Miho's expression remained unfazed. "I am the student council president. I _know_ things."

"Then the student council president must be a psychic because this was supposed to be only under Naval Studies wraps." Sanae then turned her gaze toward her commissar companion. "Unless of course it was deliberately leaked by those in-charge to keep it a secret, or those in-charge to keep it a secret were once again incompetent enough to not prevent any sort of leaks."

Mitsuki narrowed her eyes as she glared back at her captain. She wanted to launch a tirade at her for keeping secrets from the president but she fought the urge to defend herself from her accusatory look. Now was not the time.

"Miss Watari," Miho turned toward the black-haired commissar. "I heard you compiled a report regarding the accidents and I apologize for not being able to read it but… Can you please confirm to me if what I know are correct?"

"Of course ma'am." Mitsuki gave her captain one last annoyed look before turning to face the brown-haired president.

"Is it true that storage room 11MA on deck G was flooded due to a broken ceiling pipe?"

Mitsuki felt her stomach churned. _How… How did she knew about that?_

Even though her captain didn't informed her about the accidents, she still managed to know about them. Was there a spy? An inside informant? She could hear the sudden rush of questions in her head, all screaming to be answered, but she shook her head to dismiss them all. Yes, answers would be sought and, if there was indeed a breach of secrecy, heads would indeed roll.

"Um, yes ma'am… A rusting pipe broke and flooded the room which rendered all the HENL shells for our three warships soaked and unusable." Mitsuki answered. "And in addition, we were only able to find that out when the water pressure for the adjacent block severely dropped."

"I see," Miho lowered her head in deep thought. "Then can we still use these shells?"

"Err well," Mitsuki adjusted her collar. "No ma'am… Once the inside of these HENL shells are soaked in water, they become unusable."

"Then we have to procure replacements." The brown-haired president nodded, as she adjusted her sitting position. "Please send to me an order form for additional High Explosive Non-Lethal shells, set it as high priority interdepartmental purchase and I will sign them immediately."

"Yes ma'am." The commissar concurred. "I will send the order form before lunch."

"Thank you Miss Watari," Miho nodded before continuing. "Likewise, is it true that a dock-crane down in the hangar-dock collapsed on the _Furutaka_?"

Mitsuki winced. Ah yes, the dock crane incident. It was fortunate that it happened during the night with only the maintenance team of the _Furutaka_ present in the hangar-dock to witness the incident. It was also fortunate that there were no injuries despite the damaged the fall of the crane did to the IJN Cruiser. It was, however, a headache to cover-up and more so to explain to the other Naval Students as to why the _Furutaka_ no longer had a funnel and a mast.

"Err, yes ma'am, that's true… The cause was found out to be a combination of human error and mechanical fatigue. The specific details are in my report." Then she quickly added when she saw the concern look on the president's face. "But… But rest assured no one was injured when the crane fell."

"Oh. T-thank goodness… That's good to hear." Miho let out a sigh of relief. "Do you need any assistance in the repairs?"

"Everything is being taken care of ma'am, the _Furutaka_ will be able to sail again before month's end." Mitsuki wanted to add further that the Morals Committee had already sent the operator of the crane to re-education class but decided to keep mum on it.

"And lastly," The president's face immediately turned neutral. "Is it true there was a fire inside the engine room of the _Atlanta_?"

"Ah." Mitsuki placed a hand to cover her face as she lowered her head. "Yes about that… Miss President, I think that-"

"Your predecessor was duped Nishizumi." Sanae interjected. "Saunder's lend-lease program was nothing but an elaborate scam to dispose of their junk."

"Junk?" Miho furrowed her brows in confusion.

"The fire was caused by faulty wirings Nishizumi…" Sanae crossed her arms. "Faulty. Wirings. That idiot Anzu got suckered by Kaye and accepted a piece of junk."

"But didn't we send a team to do post qualifications on the _Atlanta_ before we accepted it?" Miho countered.

The American Cruiser was accepted and delivered last month as part of Saunder's lend-lease program in order for the Naval Studies to qualify for this year's Naval War Games. It was the last act of the previous president, Anzu Kodotani, before she stepped down. As such, Miho didn't took any part on its' acquisition.

"Oh yes, yes we did but…" Sanae grinned as she turned to look at her subordinate. "Why don't we ask someone who was part of the team hmm?"

Mitsuki felt sweat running down her temple. She didn't like it as to how Sanae thrusted her on the hot seat. True, she kind of expected to be questioned about these accidents by the President herself. She, however, did not expect her captain to be questioning her as well since she had already debriefed her a week ago. What's more, she knew this sort of questioning was more of an ego trip for Sanae than a substantial inquiry.

"W-We… We checked everything Miss President," The commissar tried to keep her voice cool and calm. "The list we used was very… Extensive."

It was true, as part of the commissariat, she was with the team sent to assess the _Atlanta_ if whether it was seaworthy or not. It took them two weeks of exhaustive acceptance checks, confirming thousands of checkpoints, before they accepted the leased ship. In fact, the list of checkpoints was so specific that they had items ranging from inspecting the kind of tiles used on the shower rooms to testing if the ship could withstand sea-state 7, which was if it could survive nine meter tall waves during a storm.

"Oh yes it was very extensive," Sanae was now grinning from ear to ear. She glared at the commissar and savored her discomfort. "In fact, I believe I added some of the checkpoints myself especially the one about proper insulation for electrical wirings on the auxiliary generators in the engine room. Remind me again, with such a checklist, did we still accepted a defective ship?"

Mitsuki lowered her head as she sighed. "In light of the evidence, and how we performed the checks, I must officially conclude that the wirings in the engine room were not thoroughly checked."

"And because of that we accepted a piece of junk and a month's worth of repairs." Sanae's expression turned serious. Her grin had disappeared, replaced with a scowl. "Really now Watari, I expected more from you and-"

"Captain," Miho interjected. She kept a neutral expression, neither showing shock nor admonishment at the debacle of the Acceptance team. "Could the reason for the fire can also be arson?"

Mitsuki raised her head to face the brown-haired president.

A heavy silence fell on the room, even Sanae didn't dare utter a response. Both Naval Studies officers stood, unmoving and quite still processing what the brown-haired president had said. They stared at her as if she had just grown an extra head.

"Yes?" Miho pressed on. "Is it also possible that the fire was deliberate?"

To anyone who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation or the mood of this encounter, they might find the president's question to be a normal albeit an unexpected one. Mitsuki, however, knew it as something else.

The silence in the room was deafening. Miho Nihshizumi kept her face neutral as she crossed her hands on her desk and waited for a response.

Mitsuki realized she had to answer.

"A-As being said… The fire was due to faulty wirings in the engine room ma'am," The black-haired commissar paused and made a quick glance to her captain and saw her clenching her fists very tightly while keeping her choler in check. "A post fire analysis revealed that, contrary to the previous inspection, the wirings were actually severely corroded which resulted to the fire."

"That is the official findings of the Naval Studies yes?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, then please tell me the unofficial one."

Mitsuki blinked. "Err ma'am?"

"The unofficial one." Miho clasped her hands in a steeple position as she leaned forward over her desk. "The one which points out to someone setting the engine room on fire. Deliberately."

Mitsuki gritted her teeth. She could hear her heart beating faster and she could feel sweat forming on her back despite the coolness of the room. How was it then that her president knew that, though bordering conspiracy theory territory, the evidence could also suggest sabotage?

Did she guess the question on a whim? Mitsuki shook her head. The president's calm demeanor showed her question was deliberate and calculated.

For a few seconds, Mitsuki stared at the brown-haired president as she finally realized that both she and her captain fell for her trap. Miho was indeed a hunter who lured her prey into a false sense of security before baring her teeth to strike.

Just like an anglerfish…

It might be subtle, but Miho Nishizumi had just warned both of them that, as the Supreme Student Council President, she _knows_ everything.

"B-But, miss president…" Mitsuki started, "Actually the evidence on the fi-"

She caught something in the corner of her eye. Before she could process on what it was, her body acted out of reflex as she hurled herself toward her captain, pushing her to the ground and taking cover behind the leather couch.

A second later, the window exploded.

Tiny shards of glass flew in all direction as smoke and dust blanketed the room. Lying on the ground, Mitsuki shielded her captain from flying broken glass with her body. Instincts drilled into her from her officer's training made her move, without so much as a thought, to immediately protect her superior from any harm. She heard Sanae cursing under her breath and she could feel her wanting to stand up. She ignored her protest as her captain's safety was a priority compared to her comfort.

"Get off me!" Sanae growled. "The hell are you doing?"

Mitsuki didn't reply but then she felt a cold chill running down her spine as she realized that there was someone more senior in rank than her captain in the room. All her cells in her body screamed at her to move and secure the other VIP. For just a fraction of a second, she began to dread the worst. Images of blood and the president's corpse riddled with glass shards flashed in front of her eyes. The thoughts made her stomach churned which made her want to vomit.

With sheer force of will, she closed her eyes and shut out all thoughts of despair.

Now was not the time for speculation… Now was the time to-

She heard the hiss sound of an airgun being fired followed by a yelp of pain coming from behind the president's desk.

Her heart skipped a beat.

No… No… No…

She rose to her feet and turned to check at the President.

Her face went ashen white.

Miho Nishizumi sat in her chair with her head lolling to one side. A dart the size of an eraser had embedded itself on her neck. The president sat motionless, eyes unfocused, as a strand of her saliva dripped from the side of her mouth.

"President!" Mitsuki shouted.

Click.

That was when she realized she made a mistake. She closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. Her commissariat training included an extensive course in counter-insurgency and still she failed to control herself from moving on impulse. Basic survival rule, never expose oneself from an unknown opponent. She opened her eyes and turned toward the direction of the sound of the cocked gun.

In front of her stood three female Special Forces operatives in various combat gear from various nations. The middle operative, the one pointing a Sig Sauer P226 handgun with a red plastic muzzle, wore the typical blue SAS uniform while her counterparts sported an urban Delta Force fatigue and a desert variant of the Carabinieri regiment respectively. All hid their faces in ski masks.

Mitsuki glowered at the one pointing the airsoft replica of the Sig Sauer. Now exposed, she could no longer afford to make any mistake. One wrong move and it would be over. True, an airsoft gun wouldn't kill her, but she was bound by honor to concede defeat, be in the mercy of her opponent, if she was ever hit. What's more, these intruders might not be playing by any rules and that the Sig Sauer might not shoot pellets but tranquilizer darts like the one sticking from the president's neck.

Mitsuki's eyes then darted from the SAS operative to her two teammates. They carried airsoft rifles but had not pointed them at her. They just stood their ground, letting their SAS teammate do all the talking.

Wait…

Mitsuki blinked. They might be wearing special forces uniform, but they weren't doing any perimeter checks? _Amateurs?_

"Who are you?" Mitsuki asked, her voice neutral but guarded. "Why are you here?"

"Say, miss sailor," The SAS operative replied, still pointing her gun at her. "Do you know this saying?"

Mitsuki set her mouth into a straight line. Really? A monologue in the middle of an assault? What was this? A Bond movie?

The SAS operative pointed her gun toward the commissar's shoes then back to her face. "Your shoelaces are untied."

Mitsuki blinked. "Um, what?"

"Yes." The SAS Operative replied.

And then she pulled the trigger.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Terribly sorry for the late update of this chapter. At first, I thought I could breeze through with the scenes on this chapter but then it turned out to be a nightmare. Actually, this chapter was supposed to be the starting chapter as I am an avid advocate of _in media res_ but then I realized that I would be having a lot of problems with the introductions of my main characters if I started midway. That's why I decided to instead create the first two chapters as a sort of introduction of the main characters and I was so sure that I could pull off writing this chapter in less than a month…

It turned out to be a nightmare as it took me four rewrites to finally get it right! Apparently, fleshing out the main characters first completely changed the flow of the story.

In addition, Miho Nishizumi also turned out to be a pain in the ass to write on. Don't get me wrong, I love Miho, and I don't want to mischaracterize her, but I also realize that, given her deep sense of responsibility for her teammates, she would always ante up her game when push comes to shove. That's why, as a Student Council President, she would have to overcome her timidness and emulate the cunningness (and ruthlessness) of her predecessor, Anzu Kodotani. Miho in this story might look like a whimpering puppy, but she's actually a hunter like an anglerfish.

So yeah… I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I also would like to give a huge thanks to those who subscribed and followed my story. Next chapter would involve absurd kung fu fights, over the top trashtalking, and an overly crazy car chase scene(Disclaimer: Next chapter may or may not contain absurd kung fu fights, over the top trashtalking, or an overly crazy car chase scene).

Lastly, a huge shoutout to _**Nameless Slinger**_ , author of _**Haifuri - Contact!**_ In the Haifuri section. Go checkout his story, he has an extensive knowledge on submarines and naval studies in general that I'm actually taking down notes on the terms he uses. XD

Until next time everyone!

* * *

 **Version History:**

c3v1.0 (2016/07/31)


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